Some of the biggest names in contemporary art are coming to the Denver Art Museum as part of an unprecedented year-long lecture series., funded by internationally known collectors Vicki and Kent Logan of Vail.
The lineup, titled "Logan Lectures 2007," will feature 10 major artists from around the world whose works are on view in the museum's new $110 million Hamilton Building. The series begins in January and runs through December. Some of their pieces can be seen in the largest of the temporary exhibitions on view as part of the addition's inauguration - "Radar: Selections From the Collection of Vicki and Kent Logan."

"Along with the best exhibition of contemporary art there's ever been in town, it's probably also the best lecture series," said Dianne Vanderlip, curator of modern and contemporary art.She said the budget for the event is in the six figures, with funding provided by the Logans, of Vail, who are internationally recognized collectors, and the DAM Contemporaries, a museum support group.

"It's an incredibly rare event ... because these lecture series are so outrageously expensive to produce," Vanderlip said.

Their names might not all be household names among the general public, but they are all major figures in the art world, especially Ed Ruscha, who emerged in the 1960s and has now achieved the status of an old master.

All the lectures will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Denver Art Museum, between Broadway and Bannock streets on West 13th Avenue.

The series, sponsored by the DAM Contemporaries, is $145 for the general public, $120 for museum members and and $85 for Contemporaries members, artists and students. Individual lectures are $18 for the general public, $15 for museum members and $12 for Contemporaries members, artists and students.

For reservations, call 303-913-0150 or damcontemporaries.denverartmuseum.org.